Update | Photo Play Paper, Work, Webster's Pages, and more!
It's November and that means turkey, right? Actually for most in the industry, it means that Christmas and the winter trade shows are in full swing!
Sharing. For generous crafters looking to hand make cards and share them with others, deadlines are already approaching!
The American Red Cross's Holiday Mail for Heroes program provides bundles of blank cards to ill and injured veterans at Fort Belvoir and Walter Reed. Deadline for providing card bundles is November 20th. See the Red Cross website for details on how to participate.
The Caring Hearts Card Drive that collects cards to deliver to nursing homes is also ongoing. The deadline for providing cards to the drive is November 27th. Visit Jennifer McGuire's blog for information on providing cards for the project.
Work. Digital store Snap,Click,Supply is looking for product designers to sell in their marketplace. To apply, visit the website to fill out an application.
If messy mixed media is more your style, you might be interested in the 2016 Artist Gang call from Donna Downey Studios. Entries are due on December 7th, and the new team will be announced on Dec. 14th.
Hobby Lobby. Controversy has found Hobby Lobby again. Online news magazine The Daily Beast has broken the news that Hobby Lobby's owners, the Green family, are under federal investigation for illegally importing protected antiquities from Iraq. The investigation, which was confirmed by a Hobby Lobby spokesman, has been in progress since 2011, when Fed Ex packages addressed to Hobby Lobby headquarters were seized in Memphis by U.S. Customs. The packages contained antiquities intended for the Green family's planned "Museum of the Bible." The Greens could face civil or criminal penalties if and when charges are filed in the case.
Conscious Uncoupling. Becky Higgins and Studio Calico are opting for discontinuing the three year old licensing agreement that allowed Studio Calico to produce a Project Life branded subscription kit. To replace the Project Life kit in their line-up, Studio Calico is launching a new pocket scrapbooking kit subscription called the Documenter kit. Project Life kit subscribers who convert their subscription to another Studio Calico kit before Thanksgiving will receive a $20 credit to use during the company's Black Friday sale.
Studio Calico Canyonland kit
The November Documenter kit is "Canyonlands", designed by Studio Calico, Jasmine Jones, and others. Documenter subscriptions are $29.99/month or less depending on subscription length.
Partnerships. Direct sales company Fun Stamper's Journey and Webster's Pages have announced that they are partnering on an exclusive version of Webster's popular planner line to be sold via Fun Stamper's Journey. The exclusive planners have been co-designed by Fun Stamper's Journey founder Richard Garay and Webster's Pages co-owner Brandin O'Neill. The launch video contains some tantalizing peeks into the new designs:
The new products will debut in January in Fun Stamper's Journey's Spring Mini Catalog.
Events. Bella Blvd has announced that they will be hosting a consumer event in Milwaukee in October 2016 called "She Loves Color." The event will feature owner Stephanie Smokovich, Stacy Julian, Amy Tan, Cynthea Sandoval and Laura Graff as instructors. Even with a price tag of $350 for a two day event, seats for the event sold out in less than an hour. Those still wishing to attend can ask to be added to a waitlist for cancellations.
The rapidly growing Pinners Conf event took place in Salt Lake City last week, and concluded with some big announcements for 2016. In addition to returning to Salt Lake City again, Pinners Conf will expand to two new locations in 2016: Dallas (in September) and Phoenix (in October).
Major changes are also coming to Alt Summit after 2016. After 7 years in Salt Lake City, Alt is decamping for a new location, which will be announced in January at the final Salt Lake City event. The announcement did hint, however, that the new location will not be in Utah and will be in a different time zone from Salt Lake City as well. Is Alt Summit moving east, or moving west? We'll have to wait until Janaury's Alt Summit to find out!
While the flagship winter Alt Summit is on the move, Alt Summer is saying goodbye. The company is ditching it in favor of a yet-to-be-announced new direction that it says will allow it to bring Alt to more people more effectively.
Planning is in full swing for the January trade shows and that includes Creativeworld in Frankfurt. This year, the theme for their Creative Hands award - a creative competition for designers - is "Hatmaker". The deadline for entering the juried competition in November 26th, and entries can be submitted by mail or email. Finalists are displayed in a special area during the Creativeworld show at Messe Frankfurt in January, and winners are presented their awards on the morning of the show's opening day in a ceremony. To get more information or find out how to enter, visit the Creativeworld website.
New Photo Play
New Roles. For those who had not previously heard, former Echo Park Paper Creative Director Jody Hunt has departed the company and is bringing a new brand to the scrapbook industry. Photo Play Paper launched in August, and so far has produced four paper collections designed by familiar names Michelle Coleman and Traci Smith. And Jody's not the only one with a new role at Photo Play. I am thrilled to announce that I, through my company Nally Studios, am handling all of the company's social media! So feel free to Tweet, Facebook, Pin, or Instagram to Photo Play! We're listening!
